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Sunday, October 16, 2016

Another AT&T new activation fee waived, $20 saved.

There are few things I get
excited about spending money on.One of
them is the latest iPhone.This is one
of my purchases I don’t feel bad about since there’s so much I use my phone
for.I use my phone to take pictures,
for GPS map guidance, to listen to podcasts, to send emails, and much
more.I was one of those people who
stayed up until midnight on the west coast to be one of the first to preorder
the new iPhone 7 Plus when it first became available.

We continue to stay with
AT&T Wireless because their service coverage is excellent in our area.I am thankful that my company reimburses me
$100 towards our cell phone bill every month.I also enjoy paying for the bill with my Chase
Ink Cash business credit card that allows me to earn 5x points on the
payment.This is because I am on call for my company regularly and need excellent cellular coverage.I would consider cheaper cell phone providers such as Republic Wireless,
Cricket Wireless and T-Mobile if my company did not cover our cell
phone bill.

When I ordered my new phone, AT&T
offered (now expired) a $650 bill credit paid out over 24 months if you turn in
a used and working iPhone 6, 6 Plus, 6s, or 6s Plus.This offsets a huge chunk off the cost of a
brand new iPhone 7 Plus which retails at $869.I gave my used iPhone 6 Plus to my uncle as a gift and he was very happy
to receive it.To get the $650 AT&T
credit, I ended up buying a used iPhone 6 on Amazon Marketplace for $320 and
then trading it in at the AT&T store.This still allows me to save $330 ($650 - $320) over the course of 2
years, and should bring our cell phone bill down to right about $100 (paid for
by my company).

Whenever you activate a new
phone on AT&T, they like to charge you a sneaky “upgrade fee.”This year the fee was $20.Two years ago it was
$40.

I imagine most people who get
their cell phone bill don’t question the balance and just pay it off.Or they may see the $20 fee and then shrug
their shoulders and pay it off.Not
me:20 bucks is 20 bucks.

As soon as I saw the fee on my bill, I knew I had to call AT&T to
ask them to remove it. I simply dialed 611 on my phone, then spoke
with the customer service representative on the line.

ME: “I have been with AT&T
Wireless for several years and just recently purchased a new iPhone. I
just noticed a $20 upgrade fee on my statement and I would like to have that
fee waived.”

REPRESENTATIVE: “Thank you for
being a loyal AT&T Wireless customer. I will be happy to credit
your account an amount of $20 to offset the upgrade fee. We value
you as a loyal customer.”

My account immediately showed the credit:

That was it, a simple
2-minute phone call to save $20.To top it off, AMEX Offers now has a promotion on my Premier Rewards Gold card where if I spend $100+ on your cell phone bill, I will get 1,000 Membership Rewards points, up to 3,000 extra points.

This means the next 3 bill payments will go on my AMEX Premier Rewards Gold card!